


13 Paternoster Row

by vangoghsyellowchair



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-20 13:53:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14895816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vangoghsyellowchair/pseuds/vangoghsyellowchair
Summary: A story based on Jenny and Vastra's first meeting, how they trained together and eventually entered a relationship.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first proper fanfiction, so any pointers / comments will be greatly welcomed.  
> (Usual disclaimers apply - characters are not my own) rated M for later chapters? Not entirely sure if this is correct but you guys can decide and let me know. This will have more chapters but I haven't quite worked out how to use this site yet... 
> 
> Hope you enjoy reading :)
> 
> ~ Van Gogh's Yellow Chair

Jenny’s toes felt stiff against the icy cold London cobbles; the crisp air prickled at her face and stung the ends of her gloveless fingers. She pulled her coat tightly around her petite frame in an attempt to keep her body from going into complete shock from her long day on the bitter cold street. 

“Matches?” “Matches, anyone?” she felt so invisible, passers by barely acknowledged her presence, and she hadn’t sold a single match book all night, she sighed, disheartened at the fact that she wouldn’t make enough money to buy some decent food, never mind a place to sleep. 

Stuffing her hands into her pockets she pulled her hood up over her head and set off through the streets, she did not know where she was headed, but maybe the walking would save her from the icy cold weather that had been permeating through her clothing and making her fingers and toes throb in pain. 

She thought back to how different her life had been no longer than six months ago, her home had been dismal, dark and damp but it was a home, she shared it with her three brothers and parents, they were all cramped into a tiny two bedroom terraced house but anything was better than the dirty streets of London.

Thrown from her own family home, Jenny had quickly learnt to become independent and to stand on her own two feet, she was wiser now than before, having been on the streets for 6 months, she knew the places to avoid, the people to watch out for and where the safest place to put her head down for the night was. Despite all this, London was London after all, and no matter how careful or wary she was, there was always someone waiting to prey on the innocent match girls that wandered the streets alone. 

Jenny felt herself being grabbed from behind; a beastly arm covered her face, pulling her by the neck and shoulders, thick damp wool scratched at her face as she struggled to breathe through the cloth covering her mouth and nose. She writhed and kicked, but despite her efforts she was deliriously tired and hadn’t eaten properly in days, making her weak and defenceless against whatever had dragged her from the street into a dark alleyway. 

She held her breath and braced herself for whatever was about to come, her mind flooded with the most terrifying scenarios as she struggled to hold back tears, but she was a Flint, she wouldn’t show any signs of weakness. She felt her face freed and turned to see who had grabbed her, she didn’t get the chance to allow her eyes to adjust before she was swung by the hips and pushed hard into the wall behind her, banging her head against the hard concrete wall and almost falling over at the impact. 

It was darker in the alley; shadows all around her, her eyes struggled to re-adjust from the scarcely lit streets to this dark corner of London. She struggled to make out the face of her attacker, straining her eyes determined to look into the eyes of the vile creature who had dragged her carelessly into the alley. 

Jenny felt a hand reach inside her coat, she fought, grabbing the hand and kicking every which way she could – it was no good, her attacker grabbed her arms and pinned her to the wall, stopping her from fighting back, Jenny realised she was completely helpless. The attacker was much larger and stronger than her, despite this she refused to give up the fight so easily, tightening her muscles and forcing herself to remain calm and look strong. 

She looked up to meet the face of her attacker, a crooked smile and filthy skin was all she could make out, he leaned in closer and saw a set of horrid yellowing teeth and a disturbing, menacing pair of eyes that pierced through her. Panic set in now as she realised just how helpless she was, unable to move, unable to scream in fear of what would happen to her, she felt her heart racing in her chest, her limbs felt weak and useless, she was frozen to the spot, terrified for her life. 

Her thoughts seemed to drift away from her as she thought it might not be so bad being dead, at least she could find peace at last, away from the hardships she had faced these last few months, totally and utterly over powered by the man in front of her, she let her body go limp, she gave in, too exhausted to fight any longer, she felt the last remaining hope leave her body.

Her attacker obviously noticed this change in behaviour, smiling an evil, toothy smile at her submission to him, he started to reach inside her coat, grabbing anything he could, albeit Jenny’s limited possessions, he grabbed a small amount of coins, some matchstick books, some crumpled papers.

“Is this it?” he hissed at her, “this all you got?” – his voice was gruff and menacing Jenny felt sick at the sound. 

She nodded, not looking at him, “I..I ain’t got much” she managed to choke out, tears threatening to fall.  
“Well then, I guess I’m going to have to take something else for myself if you won’t pay up” he sneered at her, pulling her waist closer to him, Jenny looked at him in disbelieve, no, no not that, please no, she was screaming inside, his gruff hands circled her waist, moving all over her body, pulling at her clothing and touching her everywhere. 

Jenny squirmed at his touch, the tears that had been threatening to fall starting to roll down her cheeks, dampening her collar and making the cold weather sting her face. 

It was then that she remembered her pocket watch hidden inside her coat pocket, her grandmother had given it to her when she was only young, she prayed that the man wouldn’t find this while his hands were inside of her coat. She felt his hands tear her dress open, she whimpered at this, her mind finally catching up as she realised what was going to happen, her lip quivered as she felt his nails dig into the skin on her lower back. 

He started to reach around to her front, his eyes watching her intently as he did so, Jenny felt him catch the chain of her watch, he tugged at it, snatching it from her and holding it up to examine. It was only small, she surmised her would probably pawn it for a few shillings; she saw the look in his greedy eyes, finding her voice again. 

“No please don’t, that was my grandmothers, it was all she left me, it’s all I have”, the man looked back at her with his cocky, broken smile.

“I’ll be taking this, I have no need for you anymore”. Jenny tried to make a grab for the watch, but he was much stronger than her and he held her arm in a vice-like grip. 

“Good night, miss” he hissed into Jenny’s tear soaked face.

She cried out, anguish, hurt and exhaustion rushed over her all at once, he sneered and started to walk back into the street, leaving Jenny leant against the wall sobbing and trying to hold together her now-torn clothes. She managed to take a few deep breaths, cease her shaking and gathered herself slightly; she knew she couldn’t stay hidden in this alleyway, for all she knew another attacker could be hidden in the shadows. 

“Arrrgh” came a man’s scream, and the sound of a whip? Jenny peered round the corner, afraid her attacker may come back for her, but she saw his body sprawled across the floor, a figure hovering over him. She watched as the figure took from him every last item he had taken from Jenny, including her grandmother’s pocket watch. Jenny saw the hooded figure hold the watch by the long thin chain, watching it dance with reflections from the street lamps. 

Jenny was frozen to the spot, she couldn’t move for fear of being noticed, her legs seemed they were not attached to her any longer, they were unresponsive to her attempts to move out of the alley. Then she noticed the hooded figure turn and start towards her, she quickly turned the corner, ducked down and tried to stay out of sight, attempting to conceal herself in the dark shadows of the alley. From her crouched position Jenny saw a pair of boots stop in front of her face, a long cloak draped over the rest of whoever stood in front of her.

“P…Please don hurt me” Jenny stammered, preparing herself for whatever was about to come.

“I will not hurt you, can you stand?” came the voice, Jenny was surprised to hear the softness that was there, a woman? She shuffled and nervously pulled herself up from her hiding place, standing before the hooded figure, who towered over her by at least a foot and a half. 

“Here” the hooded figure held out her hand, “I believe this is yours”. 

Jenny glanced at the figures gloved hand, there laying in her palm was her grandmothers watch. 

“Oh thank you!” Jenny felt her body rush with gratitude for this kind stranger.

“Thank you, thank you” – Jenny felt ridiculous repeating herself so much, but she had no other means to repay this kind gesture of a stranger. Jenny looked to the figures face, hidden behind a thin lace veil, but she could make out a pair of eyes, glistening in the moonlight. 

“Won’t you tell me yer name?” Jenny asked, her voice finally coming back to her, she looked to the figure, waiting for an answer. 

“Do you have somewhere safe to go, I will walk you there now” she said, dismissing Jenny’s request of her name. 

“No Ma’am, I aint got no home” Jenny answered, “I usually find mesel’ a nice doorway to ‘av a kip in”. 

“A doorway?” the figure questioned, “I asked if you had somewhere safe to stay, that to me certainly does not sound safe” the figures thick Scottish accent rolled off her tongue. She seemed to consider Jenny for a moment, looking her up and down, before motioning for Jenny to follow her out of the alleyway. 

“Very well… I will walk with you to your destination” Jenny wasn’t so sure why the hooded stranger was being so kind to her; she was usually invisible to passers by. 

She considered the woman for a moment, before deciding that it was probably safer to walk with her than alone, they both set off down the streets, Jenny looked to see the slumped body of her attacker still strewn in the street.

“We can’t just leave this body ‘ere” Jenny said matter-of-factly. 

She looked to the hooded figure; who somehow seemed taller out in the street.

“I suppose not” that thick accent send shivers through Jenny’s body, she couldn’t help but swoon at the sound. 

“Let’s drag him to the alley, he will look as though he’s been roughed up by a gang, ‘appens all the time round ‘ere” Jenny said.

The hooded woman nodded before grabbing the man under each arm and dragging him effortlessly towards the alley, she threw his body in among the discarded rubbish and old crates before turning to face Jenny again who stood watching eyes wide from the street. 

“Shall we carry on?” The figure spoke, turning and starting to walk down the street. 

Jenny had to run a little to catch up with her, struggling to keep up with the fast stride of the hooded figure. 

“Where are we going?” Jenny asked, her breath was ragged from their fast-paced walk and the cold night air. 

“Somewhere safe” came the clipped reply. Jenny wondered if she had annoyed the woman somehow, she figured she didn’t like company much, given that she had just struck down the man from before and now she regrettably had a match-girl in tow, she didn’t seem to be one to make conversation either, responding to Jenny’s questions with single word answers. 

“I suppose I could put you up for the night” Jenny was taken aback at the words that tumbled from the other woman’s mouth.

“Sorry?” Jenny didn’t quite believe what she had heard. 

“Just for the night though, it seems a waste of all my efforts to save your life and then leave you to rot on the street” she quipped back. 

Jenny couldn’t believe the kindness of this stranger, what did she do to deserve this “o’ no ma’am I couldn’t ever repay you for that” Jenny’s head dropped and she suddenly felt embarrassed. 

The stranger obviously noticed this “Nonsense” she said, and gently turned Jenny back towards the street.

“My driver will be here soon” the figure spoke, and sure enough not two minutes passed before Jenny saw two fine horses trotting up the cobbled street towards them. 

“In” she opened the carriage door for Jenny, before swiftly following behind her. 

The carriage was nothing like Jenny had ever experienced before, she came from a poor family and they could never have afforded anything as grand as this, the seats were upholstered in a luxurious black leather, on the floor was a rich purple carpet, and brass detailing adorned the door frame and windows of the carriage, she pulled back one of the curtains and peered out into the street, it looked so different from the carriage, not anything like the city she had grown up in.

“Won’t you tell me your name girl?” Jenny was abruptly pulled from her thoughts at the hasty question. 

She straightened herself in her seat “Jenny” – she looked at the hooded figure “Jenny Flint”…“wont you tell me yours?” Jenny asked in return, trying to curb her common accent as much as possible. 

“My name is Madame Vastra” the still-hooded woman spoke. 

“Vastra” Jenny repeated, as if testing the word on her tongue. “Reckon you ain’t from round ‘ere are ya ma’am” Jenny looked to Vastra with curiosity, just what was she hiding beneath that veil. 

“What makes you say that?” Vastra replied. 

“I, er, just” Jenny wondered if she had overstepped the mark, “just with you being a Madame and all, and this carriage, people round ‘ere don’t usually go helping out us match girls, we ar’ invisible to the world” Jenny spoke with a solemnness now, she didn’t usually reveal this much of her life to others, never mind strangers. 

The horses pulled to a stop outside a grand terraced house, to Jenny it seemed a palace, even in the weakly lit street she could make out the detail on the building front, “this is yer house?” Jenny asked astonished, “it’s amazing”. 

Vastra couldn’t help but hold back a smile at Jenny’s bold attitude; something about this girl was different to all the other apes she had encountered. She held up her cloak and began the small climb to the front door, Jenny followed shortly behind, one the click of the locks in the front door and they were inside. The porch was just as breath taking as the outside of the house, adorned with expensive looking paintings and small details were scattered around, Jenny stared wide eyed in the doorway. 

“Are you going to come in or stand there with the door open?” Vastra was curt; she hated the cold being in her home. Jenny was snapped out of her revere and quickly closed the door behind her, placing the bolt across. 

“Now I must ask that you do not touch anything in my house, I am quite particular and like things a certain way”. Vastra spoke softly but quite seriously. 

“Follow me I will show you where you may sleep” – Jenny rushed up the winding staircase after the Madame, marvelling at her grand surroundings, she had never been in a house quite this richly decorated before. The dark wooden staircase creaked under her feet as she neared the top; they walked along the long corridor, passing multiple rooms before they reached the room at the far end.

“This is my room” Vastra spoke “please do not enter here.”

Jenny wondered why this woman was telling her these things, she was only here for a night after all, “and this” Vastra opened the door directly opposite her own room, “is where you may sleep tonight”. She motioned for Jenny to enter the room, before following behind her. 

“It’s beautiful” Jenny was astonished, “ma’am, are yer sure yer don’t mind me staying?” Jenny asked in a rush, she suddenly felt nervous, being placed in a home so unlike anything she had ever known. 

Vastra ignored her question, and went about showing Jenny where the spare blankets and pillows were, tour of the room over Vastra led Jenny back out into the hall to another door, “this is the bathroom, I trust you will want to freshen up so I will leave you to it, I will be downstairs if you need me”. 

With that Vastra swiftly made her way back down the staircase leaving Jenny at a loss for what to do with herself. She headed into the room she had been assigned and sat on the bed, taking in her surroundings, marvelling at what she saw, she placed her torn coat on the nearby chair and slid her shoes off her still-frozen feet. Taking her grandmothers pocket-watch from her coat pocket she clicked it open, 11:05PM.

The room was very cosy indeed, with cream patterned wallpaper, long lavish curtains, dark wooden furniture and exotic green plants dotted around the room, Jenny had to pinch herself to check this was all happening, she felt a strange sensation whenever Vastra spoke to her, one she couldn’t quite place, but she found herself wanting to know more about the strange woman who had saved her that night. 

Wiggling her stiff fingers in the air she winced at the pain the cold night had caused her limbs, she really hadn’t been dealing with the winter months great, and they had certainly began taking their toll on her. How she longed for a hot bath to warm her through, slipping off her jacket and socks she padded quietly to the bathroom. Turning the hot tap she heard the water rush into the tub, splashing back at her slightly as it began to fill up, thinking about it she couldn’t remember the last time she had a bath, never mind one with hot and cold running taps, this must be what heaven feels like she thought to herself, before she felt a pang in her chest, reminding her that this was only for one night, in less than 12 hours she would be back on the streets foraging for food and trying to scrape together enough money to buy herself a place to sleep. Better make the most of it she mused. Slipping into the hot water she closed her eyes in bliss, welcoming the steaming water that burned her skin slightly, it felt so good to be warm again. 

Shortly after, she slipped back into her bedroom and noticed a white flowing gown had been placed at the foot of her bed, she touched the fabric with her fingertips, it was soft and smelt of freshly washed linen, she clung it to her chest letting the towel fall from around her. 

“I thought it would be about your size” came a voice from the side of the room and Jenny shrieked in surprise, noting her naked form Vastra turned her back to give the girl some privacy, “sorry I forgot about the human regulations around naked bodies” the words left her mouth before she had time to think them through. 

“Human?” Jenny asked, staring wide eyed at the woman before her. “Did you jus’ say human? Yer not human?” 

Vastra silently cursed herself; this was not supposed to happen. “Now ape if you are going to stay in my home I must tell you something, now it may shock you, people have ran from me before, like I am some kind of monster, foolish apes”.

Jenny could tell she was getting agitated, she quickly slung the nightgown over her naked form and sat on the bed “okay you can turn around now” – Vastra turned, looking at the girl through her veil, her skin was slightly pink from her hot bath and she looked more relaxed now than she had all night, despite the fact Vastra had just insinuated that she was not human. 

“Wut are you?” Jenny asked her, Vastra could see Jenny trying to make out a face behind her veil, but it was no use, the black fabric covered every inch of the woman’s features.

“I do not want to frighten you ape, I brought you here tonight because you needed help, not to traumatise you further” Vastra spoke in a softer tone than usual. 

“Jus’ tell me what you are” Jenny pleaded. 

Vastra sensed no fear in the girl, only curiosity. She slowly lifted her veil and took her hood down from her head, revealing herself completely to the girl in front of her. She looked to Jenny, who sat precautious at the edge of the bed, her face unwavering and certain, she didn’t have a flicker of fear in her, no disgust…nothing; she simply looked at Vastra, taking in every detail before her. 

“Yer a lizard?” Jenny found her voice; she had so many questions swirling around her mind she wasn’t sure where to start. 

“S-sorry I didn’t mean that, you’re obviously not a lizard, you’re a woman… I, I don’t know what you are” Jenny was stumbling over her words now, she tried to stop but more kept pouring out of her, but it wasn’t through fear or nervousness, she simply wanted to know what creature stood before her. 

Vastra stopped Jenny in her tracks, she couldn’t stand the insistent babbling coming from the girl “I am a Silurian, we are an ancient race of lizards who lived below the earths surface before humans were around”. 

“So there are more of you?” Jenny asked, she noticed Vastra’s jaw tighten as she thought about her next words.

“No, my sisters were slaughtered, I managed to escape and have been living amongst the apes ever since” she replied sternly.

“Apes?” Jenny asked. 

“The human race” Vastra replied, she watched Jenny as she took in everything that she had told her, half expecting her to bolt and run for the door any instant, Vastra was surprised to find that Jenny did none of these things, she simply sat and looked at the lizard-woman standing before her. 

“Thank you for letting me stay here ma’am” Jenny said, taking Vastra aback slightly, had she forgotten what she had just told her? She wasn’t running, screaming or trying to attack her? 

She smiled at Jenny, “you’re welcome, now get some sleep”. She left the room at that and made the short journey across the hall to her own room. 

Slipping under the covers Jenny pondered everything she had just been told, normally anyone in Jenny’s position would have been disgusted or terrified of Madame Vastra’s appearance, what with her emerald green scales, those huge spikes on her head, but Jenny didn’t feel disgust or fear, all she saw of the Madame were her startling blue eyes, they danced and glistened with reflections of light and Jenny felt she could never tire of looking into them. Shaking her head at how ridiculous she was being she’s a stranger, you don’t even know her she told herself. 

Suddenly realising just how exhausted she was she pulled the covers up and wiggled under them, the soft mattress felt so welcoming to her, and it wasn’t long after her head hit the pillow that she fell into a deep sleep.


	2. Parting Ways

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .... don't worry I'm impatient so they won't part for long :')  
>  again any comments are greatly appreciated!

Morning came in a flash, and Jenny opened her eyes to the bright light that filled every corner of her room, she relished her last few seconds in Madame Vastra’s room, before slinging on her coat, pushing her feet back into her just-held-together shoes and remaking the bed to it’s original position, nothing was out of place and everything was exactly as the room had been previous to Jenny sleeping there. 

She stepped out into the corridor and heard Madame Vastra slumbering quietly in her room, obviously not an early riser Jenny thought to herself. Not wanting to impose on the Madame and not wanting to seem rude for leaving without so much as a goodbye, she went back into her room and sat at the desk, picking up the pencil and pad of paper, she paused; Jenny was not the most literate, nor could she write brilliantly but she got by, she haphazardly wrote a note. 

“Thank you for letting me stay the night, please accept this as my payment” – despite a few spelling mistakes and a few wobbly letterforms she decided the note would be legible enough for the Madame to decipher, placing it on the newly made bed and took her pocket-watch from her coat, bringing it to her lips she kissed the cool metal and placed it down on top of the note on the foot of the bed, next to it she neatly folded her borrowed nightgown and left the room, tip-toed down the creaky staircase, taking one last look at the grand house before walking out the front door. 

The icy cold winter air hit her face as she stepped out of number 13 Paternoster Road, she felt at a bit of a loss back on the streets, the same feeling she experienced her first night alone, her mind flashed back to her mother screaming at her to “never come back” and “you’re a disgrace to this family”, wincing at the memory she pushed it to the back of her mind and set about scavenging some matchsticks to sell, making her way down to the marketplace her eyes scanned the floor looking for discarded matchbooks, her easiest way to make money, at least honestly – she did not nor did she ever consider herself a common thief and she made a promise to herself that she would never steal from others, no matter how bad things got. 

Madame Vastra woke as she heard the heavy front door close shut, opening her eyes she jumped from bed, threw on her usual attire, a deep purple Victorian dress paired with black leather boots. She headed over to the spare bedroom, knocking once, twice… no answer, she creaked the door open slightly and peered through, nobody there, the bed was made, neater than she ever made it she noted, and Jenny’s borrowed nightgown was folded next to a scrap of paper, she walked into the room, picking up the paper she saw what must be Jenny’s rather wobbly and childlike handwriting, after a moment of trying to decipher the words, she read ‘Thank you for leting me stay the nigt, plese acsept this as my payment’.

Vastra glanced down at the bed and there, as beautiful as the first time she saw it was the golden pocket-watch Jenny has so dearly clung to the night she was mugged. Vastra unclicked the lock and saw the time 10:35AM, on the opposite side an inscription reading “Que mes baisers soient les mots d’amour que je ne te dis pas”. 

Vastra spoke very limited French and could not fathom what this meant, but she knew this watch must’ve meant a great deal to Jenny, a girl with seemingly nothing, she decided she would keep it with her on her outings in case she may run into Jenny again, then she could return it to her. 

A week passed where Vastra and Jenny both went about their separate days, Jenny was back to selling matchsticks in the freezing cold weather, and Vastra went about her life, a life of which Jenny knew nothing about, she hadn’t even asked what the Madame did for a living. Jenny surmised she was probably a lady of leisure, or perhaps she had a rich husband whom worked abroad, she felt herself thinking more and more about the mysterious Madame, wishing she had hung around longer to find out more about her. 

It was strange, ever since the night she had revealed herself to Jenny, Jenny had felt this strange pull towards the Madame, a connection she couldn’t quite place, and she longed to see her again. 

“Oh if only” she whispered to herself, but she knew in the busy streets of London, you never saw the same face twice, she would probably never see the Madame ever again, she felt a sadness creep over her, before she shrugged it off, stop it Jenny she was just a kind stranger, she owes you nothing, probably pleased to be rid of you she cursed at herself. 

Traipsing the London streets looking for a safe place to lay her head for the night, or at least, as safe as she could be in the centre of London. Finding an old warehouse tucked back from the slums she settled herself down into the doorway and closed her eyes, her mind wandered, filling with images of the lizard woman, memories flooded back of the first look she got at those emerald scales “argh what is this” she’s hypnotised me, she angrily thought to herself, why can I not stop thinking about her. 

It was then she saw a hooded figure flash in front of her, quicker than her eyes could adjust, then again, a flash of black cloth swept past her, Jenny clutched her knees, bringing them closer to her chest, she tucked her head down and braced herself for what was about to happen. She heard a scream a shout and then, the noise, the same whipping noise she heard the night her mugger was brought tumbling to the ground. 

It couldn’t be, it was 1AM, why would the Madame be out and trawling the back streets of London at this time? Jenny’s curiosity got the better of her, as she peered round the corner, and there she was, standing above another criminal? Victim? Jenny didn’t concern herself with the identity of the slumped body on the ground, her heart filled with happiness, there was Madame Vastra, she thought she would never see her again. 

Suddenly aware she didn’t want the Madame to pity her again, she quickly bundled herself back into her corner and kept out of sight. She heard the sound of those boots again, confidently striding along the pavement, getting louder and louder as they neared her hiding place. 

“You again”, she recognised the voice straight away, the voice she had longed to hear for the past week. 

“Good evening ma’am, we ought to stop running into each other in the dead of night, people might talk, and it’s Jenny” Jenny smirked cheekily at the Madame, who simply reached into her coat pocket and brought the pocket-watch gifted from Jenny and placed it into Jenny’s palm.

“I believe this is yours” she said. 

Jenny looked in disbelief, the Madame had clearly been carrying this round with her on the off chance that she would run into Jenny again, she blushed at the thought, pleased that with the dark surroundings this wouldn’t show. 

“Ma’am… I, this was for you” Jenny said. 

“Nonsense, this is obviously a very special possession to you and you need to hold onto that” Vastra spoke slowly and softly, as though she was trying not to disturb the stillness of the city around them. 

“Thank you ma’am” Jenny answered, looking at her feet a bit sheepishly. 

“Now please tell me this is not your idea of a ‘safe place’ as you so called it”. 

“I, er, yes” Jenny answered, a bit embarrassed at herself. 

Vastra noted Jenny’s appearance, which she obviously overlooked on their last brief meeting; her clothes were dirty and torn, her shoes were barely held together, her hair had bits sticking out in every which way and her fingernails were dirty and splitting from the cold. 

Despite her Silurian nature, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for the girl before her, it took her by surprise then that Jenny started to sob. Vastra was not accustomed to comforting apes, so she sheepishly placed a hand on Jenny’s shoulder, feeling foolish and un-experienced at this sort of thing, human emotions were not something Vastra was experienced in dealing with. 

Jenny threw herself into Vastra, clinging to her clothes and pressing her head against her chest, her tears streaming down her face and probably soaking through Vastra’s cloak, Vastra’s whole body tensed, she had not been in such close proximity to an ape, well ever. But something about this one was different, something stirred inside her. 

“I.. I’m sorry ma’am, I… I” Jenny struggled to speak. “Nobody has ever been this nice to me before, I have never known such kindness”. 

She looked at Vastra, and Vastra felt her heart skip a beat, she softened her voice to barely a whisper as she spoke, “come ape, you are clearly in no state to sleep in this…” Vastra stopped to look around the grim doorway Jenny had decided to call her own for the night “place” she finally finished. Jenny did not argue, she felt a lump in her throat so big she was scared it could choke her. 

Following the familiar route up to her borrowed bedroom Jenny laid down on the bed, and felt the welcoming scent of Vastra’s home fill her nostrils, Vastra watched her from the doorway, a little confused as to why she would allow this ape back into her home again, this was not common practice of a Madame she thought, and definitely not a Silurian.

But she couldn’t help the pity she felt for this small ape. As Jenny clambered under the covers Vastra sat down tentatively on the edge of the bed, she looked at Jenny, “what am I going to do with you” she asked quietly, but Jenny had already slipped into a most welcomed sleep. Vastra sighed, pulled the spare blanket from under the bed and placed it over Jenny before leaving the room. 

The next morning Jenny awoke again in her borrowed room, the familiar surroundings forcing a small smile on the girls face, despite only spending a few hours in this room the last time, she felt a strange longing to the house, like she somehow belonged here. Ridiculous she knew, but still she couldn’t shake the feeling. Hearing the floorboards creak suddenly she became aware of Vastra’s presence outside her door; she heard a light knock, two knocks.

“Yes” she suddenly felt nervous, what would the Silurian say of her being in her home once again? 

“Hello” Vastra let herself into the room, “I think we should talk”. 

Jenny felt her heart sink a little at Vastra refusing to call her by her name, yet again.

Oh god she’s going to tell me to leave and never come back, to never look for her again, she thought to herself.

Vastra placed herself in the chair at the desk and turned to face Jenny, who sat up in bed and looked to the Madame, still not speaking. “It has become clear to me Jenny that you do not have employment, nor are you able to get employment while you live on the streets, so I believe that it would be beneficial to you, and to me, if I were to offer you a job, here” Vastra was speaking quickly, as if she had been rehearsing what she would say to Jenny. 

“Oh Madame, I would love to work for you” Jenny’s face lit up, she was beaming from ear to ear, “but I am afraid, I don’t have any services to offer you” she suddenly sank lower in the bed, she was nervously fiddling with the fabric on the bedding. 

“Is it or is it not customary for people to employ chambermaids to look after their homes?” 

“Yes that’s right ma’am”, Jenny’s eyes were filling with hope as she looked at the woman in front of her. 

“Very well” the Madame spoke, “you shall work here, you can clean and cook and help me around the house, and in return you shall receive a weekly wage, a roof over your head and food to keep you nourished properly… If that suits?” Vastra added, she knew of her tendency to be quite intimidating towards humans, she didn’t want to scare the small ape. 

Vastra was quite taken aback as Jenny launched herself at the Madame, hugging her so tight she thought she might suffocate, Vastra tensed again, causing Jenny to realise what she had done as she quickly retreated looking rather sheepish, “sorry ma’am, I was just… happy as all” Jenny said excitedly. 

“I shall see you downstairs for breakfast in twenty minutes and we can discuss the rest of your duties as my maid” Vastra stood and left the room. That girl will be the death of you she thought to herself, although she couldn’t stop the small smirk that pulled at the edges of her mouth. 

Downstairs Vastra sat at the dining room table, reading a newspaper and sipping tea, Jenny knocked lightly on the door, “enter” Vastra said without looking up once “sit” she motioned to the chair opposite her. 

“I, ur, Madame…” Jenny’s voice trailed off as she stood awkwardly at the door.

“What is the problem?” Vastra asked, finally looking up from her paper. 

“Where?” Jenny asked. 

“Where, what?” Vastra answered, looking at the girl who was obviously perplexed of what to do. 

“Where, shall I sit?” Jenny asked. Vastra let out a laugh, until she saw the concern in Jenny’s eyes and composed herself.

“Well I dare say the table will be a damn sight comfier than the floor”. 

Jenny nervously pulled a chair out from the table and sat down to the left of the Madame, “forgive me Madame, but I believe it is not customary for maids to sit at the same table as the mistress of the house” Jenny said, looking at her Madame with wide eyes. 

“Well I believe it is also not customary for lizard-women to live amongst a society of apes and yet here I am”, she smiled at Jenny before setting down her teacup and sliding some papers across the table in front of Jenny. 

“This is my schedule, a list of what I will be expecting from you, your weekly wage sum and a list of things you will need to pick up for yourself”, she motioned to each paper in turn, before stopping to look up at Jenny. 

Jenny simply smiled up at Vastra, slight annoyance at being called an ape yet again but despite this her eyes had lit up and she was besides herself with excitement for her new employment “when do I start” she asked eagerly and Vastra couldn’t help but chuckle at the girls eagerness.

“Right now, if that would please you” she barely got out before Jenny bounced off her seat and demanded her mistress show her where she kept all her cleaning and cooking items. 

Vastra motioned for Jenny to go through into the kitchen, she began opening cupboards and various draws “fill these with any food you would like, as you may have guessed, I do not eat ape food, only raw meat and blood” Jenny looked at her in disbelief “I trust you are not squeamish” she finished. 

Jenny shook her head, “no ma’am, just shocked as all”.  
“Really?” Vastra started, “I tell you I am a lizard woman from the dawn of time, and nothing, but you’re shocked at my dietary preferences? My, my little ape what am I to do with you?” she teased Jenny, this was unlike her at all but something about the smaller woman brought something out in herself. 

“It’s Jenny” Jenny reminded Vastra, who apparently paid no heed as she went on opening kitchen cupboards and demonstrating different storage spaces to her new maid. 

“Happy?” Vastra turned to the smaller woman.

“Quite” Jenny replied, her eyes crinkled at the sides and her mouth curved into, what Vastra thought was the most endearing thing she had ever seen, she shook her head, back to reality.


	3. The Basement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your kudos and comments, it has spurred me on to release another chapter. Again comments and feedback are most appreciated!

Jenny didn’t take long to adjust to Vastra’s strange lifestyle, she fed her twice a day - a hearty meal of raw meat and a glass of warm blood, she quickly learnt the proper way to prepare these just to her mistresses liking. She washed her clothes, which were usually soaked in blood, but Jenny never questioned why. She kept the fires roaring, especially during winter months and kept the house clean and tidy at all times, this was Jenny’s life now. 

In return she was gifted with a full wardrobe of clothes, food on the table, a bed to sleep and the freedom to socialise as she pleased. Jenny’s life was amazing and she revelled in it, she had never imagined she would be in this position, but she thanked her gods that she had been given this opportunity. 

Two months quickly passed and the two grew closer, despite Vastra still referring to Jenny as an ape, Jenny felt more at home here than she ever had in her entire life, Madame was becoming more of a housemate than an employer, and she felt herself feeling really rather fond of the old lizard, she would never admit this to her of course, Vastra was professional and stern at the best of times, and Jenny would never allow herself to demolish the relationship they had between them. 

Two months turned into three, which turned into six, which turned into one year, and Jenny’s routines were practically second nature to her now, she knew the sound of her mistress coming through the front door and exactly what time she wanted to eat without even having to ask, she knew to bring her tea to her study every evening, and most importantly she knew never to bother her when she sloped off to her mysterious basement, a room which Jenny was forbidden to ever enter. 

Jenny was curious by nature though, sneaking peeks down the steep staircase whenever she could, watching after Vastra as she sauntered down the steps. One evening when she thought she was alone in the kitchen she found herself peering down the narrow staircase, pondering to herself… What possibly could be down there that I mustn’t see, she thought, and as if she had heard her thoughts Vastra appeared from nowhere, startling Jenny. 

“Must I remind you not to linger around my basement, there is nothing of interest nor concern to you down there, I can assure you”, she lightly squeezed Jenny’s shoulder and Jenny swooned at the touch, she bit her lip and her stomach fluttered and she shook herself out of her trance.

“Yes ma’am, I was just curious as all” she shrugged and went back to washing up the dishes from dinner. Vastra watched her, pondering what to do with the girl, should she tell her? Would she understand, surely she must know that a lizard feeds differently than humans; she cooks my meals after all. She pushed the notion to the back of her mind, another time she surmised. Before sloping down the steep concrete stairs. 

Two weeks later, Jenny was dusting Madame Vastra’s vast collection of novels when she was startled by a high pitch wail, what on earth was that she thought, the Madame had left for the evening, as she always does – so she would not be back for hours, and ‘aaaargh’, there it was again. Jenny ran to the kitchen window, peered through the panelled glass and there on their back lawn laid something, someone? 

A black figure wailing in pain it seemed, she tried to look closer, to get a look at what it was that was screeching into the night sky, then it hit her, the panic froze her heart and sent sharp pains through her chest…it was the Madame. 

Jenny, without thinking ran out into the garden, her heart thudding in her ears, panic swallowed her whole as she ran to her Madame, lying on the grass wincing in pain. “Ma’am” she whispered, and Jenny could not believe her eyes, for Madame Vastra’s scales had been torn from her arm, there was a deep wound starting at her elbow and ending just below her shoulder, her blood was staining the grass and soaking her mistress’ white shirt. 

“Oh god” Jenny was in full panic mode now, “let me get you into the house” she hoisted Vastra up, one arm sloped over her shoulder, her arm around her waist and she attempted to guide the lizard back to their home. “You stupid bloody lizard what have you been doing?” she scolded. Tumbling through the door she kicked it closed behind them and guided Vastra straight through into the living room, plonking her down onto the sofa, a sheen of sweat had coated her forehead and her clothing was covered in blood, god she was heavy.

Jenny ran to the kitchen, bringing back a butchers knife, some alcohol, a wire cloth and some coals – she threw the coals into the fire, which thankfully was already roaring hot. 

She took the knife and turned to Vastra who looked at her in panic “Just what do you think you are doing?” Vastra looked at her maid in disbelief. 

“Shush now I’m going to help you” Jenny answered softly. She took the blade of her knife and cut a line along Vastra’s shirt, removing the sleeve entirely. 

She then inspected the wound, it was bad, Vastra was losing too much blood, and she had to seal it fast, grabbing the alcohol and letting it soak a cloth of material. 

“Now this will hurt,” she warned Vastra, who looked at her with those piercing blue eyes.

“Do you know what you are doing ape?” she asked, suddenly looking terrified. 

“Yes, of course” Jenny lied, ignoring the fact her mistress still refused to call her anything other than ape, nevertheless she felt there was no use in worrying her mistress even more. She grabbed the cloth and dabbed at the wound, pressing harder and harder to stop the bleeding, Vastra hissed and wailed something she guessed in Silurian.

“Nearly done ma’am, the bleeding is slowing now, you’re gonna be okay I just need to seal the wound” Jenny’s soft voice washed over Vastra, finding that she secretly loved Jenny caring for her, despite her almost losing an arm. 

Placing her spare knife in the fire Jenny watched her mistress’ face turn cold.

“What are you doing, Jennifer?” Vastra’s thick accent rolled off her tongue, she was serious now. Jenny was shocked at the use of her full name, it excited her, sending a rush of butterflies through her stomach, quickly brushing that off, now is not the time she cursed at herself. 

She took the blade from the fire, it was white hot, definitely needs to be, she thought to herself as she wrapped a cloth around it she moved back to kneel beside Vastra on the sofa, she looked at the Madame with pleading eyes.

“I need to do this ma’am, you’ve got to get this wound healed, now give me your hand” Vastra placed her hand in Jenny’s and Jenny took the blade in her other hand, “right now on three I will seal the wound, you can squeeze my hand to help the pain” she tried to sooth the Silurian, which obviously was not working. 

“Okay ready?” Vastra did not look at her she simply nodded her head. “Okay, one, tw…” Jenny pushed the searing hot metal over the wound and held it there, not waiting for her count of three. Best to get this over with and with that she felt her hand being crushed by her mistress’ vice like grip, her bones were forced together and she felt a sharp pain shoot up into her wrist, she let the metal peel off the wound, and Vastra loosened her grip on Jenny’s hand. 

“There, all done” Jenny smiled at Vastra, who laid on the couch looking up at Jenny in amazement. Satisfied that Vastra’s wound had healed from the heat of the metal blade, Jenny looked at her own hand, she tried to flex, but could only move three fingers.

“Urm, ma’am, I don’t want to cause a fuss… but I think you may have broken my fingers” Vastra shot up in an instant, taking Jenny’s hand in her own for inspection, and sure enough, her middle and third finger were crooked, starting to swell and Jenny felt a throbbing in them. 

“Oh” Vastra started, “I’m so sorry I didn’t… I… I” she was lost for words, she couldn’t believe she had hurt Jenny like this, her own wound quickly forgotten she ran to the kitchen, and Jenny heard her scraping through the cupboards in there, until she returned with some bandages and what looked like a small, handmade splint, “put your hand here” Vastra spoke quickly now, panic was rising in her voice again, Jenny did as she was told, placing her hand flat on the coffee table, they both kneeled and Vastra quickly got to work, bandaging and sticking and moving and sticking again, she’s obviously done this before Jenny thought. 

Vastra looked at Jenny as if she had just slapped her across the face, her eyes pierced through her own, her mouth agape, Jenny frowned, “ma’am, did I do something wrong?” Vastra did not answer, just continued looking at Jenny perplexed. She shook her head and got back to tending to Jenny’s hand, one last strip of cloth and Jenny’s fingers were completely useless, suspended in a barrage of cloth and tape. 

“Thanks” she said, “now let me see your arm” – she turned quickly back to Vastra, lifting what was left of the hem of her shirt and glancing at the pink wound there, it looked worse against the emerald green scales, and Jenny couldn’t resist touching them, they were cool, and smooth, Vastra watched her with great intent, until Jenny snapped out of her trance realising she had been caressing her mistress’ arm which was definitely not appropriate for a chambermaid. 

A little embarrassed she stood abruptly “Okay I’ll go make some tea” pointing to the settee for Vastra to sit, she went into the kitchen, shortly after she came cradling a silver tray of teacups, pots and bowls of sugar, she poured Vastra a cup and handed it to her, before pouring her own, finding it somewhat more difficult now with two of her fingers out of motion. 

She sat on the settee next to Vastra and pointed her knees towards her, “Now won’t you tell me what you have been doing to get yourself in this state?” Jenny asked sternly. 

“I was working” Vastra simply replied. 

“Working? What kind of work do you do to end up nearly loosing a bloody arm?” Jenny realised she never actually knew what her mistress did; she had tried to ask before but never got a straight answer.

“I help bring criminals to justice” is all she got, so she told herself Vastra was involved with the police. But your typical policeman does not come home covered in blood and wailing in pain with one arm slashed open, or you wouldn’t expect. 

“I’ve told you before Jenny, I bring criminals to justice” Vastra looked into her teacup, waiting for Jenny to respond. 

“But what does that mean, are you a detective, part of the police?” Jenny pleaded with Vastra, “Please tell me”. 

“I work as a detective for Scotland Yard, they hand me the hardest cases, the ones they cannot crack themselves, and I solve them” Vastra admitted defeat, realising the ape would not give up on this so easily this time. 

“So, why are you here covered in your own blood if you are simply a detective?” Jenny was not backing down now she needed to know. 

“I got into a fight”, Vastra admitted, she hated feeling weak and right now she felt weak. “I was attacked from behind and scathed with a sword, that is why I am bleeding and my arm is wounded so badly, I barely got out alive” she looked to the floor. 

Jenny’s eyes filled with horror at the thought of losing her mistress, she had grown so close to her she couldn’t imagine a life without her, sure she called her ape and she was extremely unusual and sometimes very insensitive but all in all Vastra had become one of Jenny’s closest friends, perhaps her only friend. 

Vastra looked up when Jenny took a while to answer, and saw a small tear making it’s way down Jenny’s cheek.

“Jenny, I never meant to upset you, I am trying to be honest with you, don’t you see, I’ve never told you because I wanted to protect you, here in my home I know you are safe, you must know you are safe, I would never bring any of my work home, tonight was” she paused as she found the right word “unfortunate”. 

Jenny nodded; she couldn’t speak for fear the tears would start falling if she did. She realised that this wasn’t about Vastra not telling her of her work, this was about Vastra, oh god not again Jenny thought to herself. She could not develop feelings for her mistress, they were companions, friends at best, if they could even call their warped relationship a friendship, but never that. Jenny shook the notion from her mind.


	4. Feeding Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to heat up between the two...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long, I edited and re-edited and I'm still not entirely convinced that I'm happy with it but I will upload it regardless, again any comments/ reviews will be greatly appreciated! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Vastra headed out the next evening before Jenny had the chance to see her sneaking out of the house, she knew Jenny would not be happy about her leaving the house so late, especially with the state her arm was in, so she crept down the stairs while Jenny was bathing, left a note on the coffee table and quietly closed the front door behind her. 

Jenny heard the door creaking from upstairs, as she shook her head in disbelief “that bloody lizard” she angrily hauled herself from the bath, threw on her clothes and went downstairs to find Vastra, nowhere to be seen, she looked in every room of the house, nope she’s gone. 

Great, she thought to herself, what kind of state will she come back in tonight? Jenny paced and paced their living room, worrying out of her mind as to where Vastra was, god why am I so bothered, she is a lizard, she can take care of herself, stop being so attached Jenny she mentally cursed herself but she couldn’t deny the feelings that were beginning to develop for the older woman. 

Deciding enough was enough, she would go out and find the stupid old lizard and see what was so important she had to go out injured at 11PM for. She knew exactly how to find out where Vastra had gone, she kept her work up in her study, in the left hand draw, she went upstairs to Vastra’s desk, knowing how angry she would be if she found Jenny rifling through her things she made extra sure she placed everything back in order before leaving. 

Flicking through the file on the top, obviously the most recent case, Jenny looked through a few pages before she found a small map with various notes and markings on, it was clear that Vastra was investigating the docks, so that was where Jenny headed, she grabbed her coat and threw on her boots before taking off into the night. 

The docks were gloomy and misty, Jenny could barely see three feet in front of her, perfect place for a murder investigation she guessed, but her anger was replaced with fear now as she paced along the side of the docks, looking in every direction for Vastra. 

Where could she have gotten? Jenny searched and searched for what felt like hours, but in reality it had probably only been about half an hour, it was cold out and the frost bit at her nose, making her eyes water. The fog finally started to clear and she could make out two figures in the distance, she ran to a pile of barrels, ducking down from sight behind one she peered over at the two figures. 

One was considerable larger than the other, a very strongly built man with huge arms and a thick neck, the other a hooded figure, slender and covered by a long cloak, Vastra she thought to herself. The man was clearly looking for a fight, sizing himself up to Vastra, who simply stood and watched him as he circled her and tried to intimidate her, he looked like he was growing angrier and angrier by the second. 

Jenny could barely make out what they were doing but then she saw the glistening reflection of something silver, the man had pulled it from his pocket and was wielding it at his side, oh god a knife, Jenny felt panic grip her, her heart quickened and she could feel the steady beat in her ears, she dug the nails on her good hand into her palm, she held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut as she saw the man lunge at Vastra with the knife. 

Scared to look back up for fear her mistress would be laying on the floor, she weakly opened her eyes and saw Vastra had a knife of her own, she was battling with the man, who was easily two feet taller than her, she swung her sword around expertly, the man didn’t stand a chance, she disarmed him quickly with a swish of her wrist and knocked him to the floor in one swing.   
Towering over him now she snaked out her tongue and struck him, he writhed in pain for a minute grasping at his neck until his body stilled and ceased in movement, she saw Vastra look over her shoulder, checking nobody was around - Jenny ducked quickly, she did not want Vastra to know she had followed her here. 

Glancing up slowly she saw Vastra feeding on the man, she was ripping apart his limbs and tearing his flesh with her teeth, it seemed all too easy for her, like she did this every night. Every night Jenny thought, Vastra is out at ‘work’ every night, she never goes out in the daytime, oh my god this is what she does, she solves crimes and ‘brings criminals to justice’ i.e she eats them. 

Jenny couldn’t believe her eyes, all this time Vastra had been feeding on humans, she stood up in shock, stumbling backwards knocking over some empty barrels which clattered and rolled across the deserted dockyard, she saw Vastra turn to her, she knew she was here, Jenny ran home. 

Jenny was quiet at the breakfast table, she barely touched her food and sat staring at her plate pushing food around with her fork, Madame Vastra watched her from the head of the table, “Jenny, are you okay?” she asked quietly.

Jenny obviously hadn’t heard, she was lost in her thoughts. Vastra wondered if Jenny was disgusted by her, she knew she ate raw meat, but not humans, she after all was a human, that must’ve worried or at least scared the girl.

“Jenny” Vastra said louder, which broke Jenny out of her trance, she wasn’t used to the Silurian calling her by her name.

“Y…Yes ma’am, sorry I… I” she didn’t know where she was going with that sentence, she stopped speaking and just looked at Madame Vastra, who stared at her intently. 

“Are you okay?” the lizard asked, her voice laced with concern for the young maid. 

“Yes I’m okay” Jenny answered, and went back to pushing her food around her plate. Vastra narrowed her eyes as she thought about whether to talk to the girl about what she had saw the night before, it was clearly troubling her- but she thought best not to say anything and excused herself from the table leaving Jenny alone with her thoughts. 

The next day Jenny was washing up their plates from lunch when she spurted out “teach me to fight” before she had a chance to recall the words. 

Madame Vastra looked at her in disbelief. “What?” she half laughed. 

Jenny turned to face the lizard and repeated herself slowly “I… I want you to teach me to fight”. 

Vastra looked at the young girl standing there bold as brass, asking, more like demanding to be taught to fight, like she could ever be a match for a Silurian, she must’ve known that. 

“I know I wont be as strong and as fast as you, but I want you to teach me, I want to learn what you do,” Jenny added when the lizard woman didn’t answer. 

Vastra was astounded, she thought Jenny wasn’t speaking to her because she watched her eat another human, not that she wanted to learn to fight. “Jenny, you saw me that night, I ate a human, you were there, you watched me?” she partly stated, partly questioned. “I… I thought you would be more disturbed by that” she looked at Jenny with a confused look on her face. 

Jenny walked towards Vastra, taking her hands in her own, she did not know where this sudden bolt of confidence came from, but she relished the feeling of Vastra’s hands in her own “I do not care what you do to those criminals, I watched you that night, and your fighting was quite frankly amazing, I want you to teach me, I want to be able to defend myself, that night in the alley when you saved me, I want to be able to fight my own battles, please ma’am” Jenny looked to Vastra expectantly, and Vastra stared her down, Jenny became sheepish at the scrutiny of Vastra’s gaze, she dropped Vastra’s hands, not really realising she had been holding them, “at least think about it” she said and went back to her dishes. 

That evening, Vastra found Jenny sat in the living room mindlessly staring into the fire, swirling a teaspoon around a cup of tea, “when my arm and your fingers are healed we will begin training, these are your combat clothes, I expect you to wear them and be prepared for what you are about to face”. 

Vastra handed Jenny a parcel wrapped neatly in brown paper, before leaving the room not giving Jenny a chance to reply. Jenny turned back to the parcel carefully untying the string and letting the brown paper unfold to reveal a black high neck top, a black leather corset and a pair of skin-tight black pants. 

“Oh” Jenny blushed; she had never worn trousers before. She practically bounded up the stairs to try on her clothes, smoothing out the creases and looking at herself in the mirror she was quite taken aback, albeit a little flattered that her mistress had chosen an outfit that not only fit her perfectly but that was quite so… revealing of her figure. 

Feeling emboldened by her new outfit she sauntered to her Madame’s study, she knocked only once before she heard “enter Jenny” and Jenny loved the way her name sounded in the mouth of the Silurian. 

She pushed the door open with the toe of her boot and leaned against the doorframe, looking to the lizard that was sat engrossed in her paperwork. 

“Ahem” Jenny made a sound to make Madame Vastra notice her. Vastra made a double take at her maid, her eyes seemed to darken, or that could’ve been Jenny’s imagination, and she leant her cheek on her hand at her desk, eyes roaming up and down Jenny and her newly adorned clothing. 

“You like them?” Vastra asked finally, her voice had a little squeakiness to it, as if she had something stuck in her throat. Jenny noticed the change in her mistress’ tone and she bit her lip slightly, feeling heat rise in her cheeks. 

“Yes, I love them Madame, thank you very much” Jenny minxes over to Vastra’s desk, landing her palms flat on the surface and leaning down to look Vastra dead in the eye, the heat in the room seemed to suddenly rise as she did, their faces were so close. 

“I’m glad” Vastra replied, with a smirk on her lips, her eyes never leaving Jenny’s.

“How’d you get the sizing so accurate, it’s almost like they were made just for me?” Jenny teased, she knew Vastra must’ve been studying her to get her exact size, and she blushed at the thought. 

Vastra knew this girls game and she wasn’t about to be intimidated by an ape, she played along “just what are you insinuating Jennifer?” Vastra let the girls name roll slowly off her tongue as she moved her face half an inch closer to her maids, a smirk still plastered on her face. 

“Mhmm nothing atall Madame, would you like any more tea?” Jenny teased, encouraged by her mistresses’ flirtatious tone. 

“No thank you Jenny, I am fine” Vastra replied, Jenny could hear her heart beating in her ears, her cheeks were most definitely burning up and her palms were sweating, she could feel the butterflies in her stomach, electric shocks pulsing through her blood stream. 

“Very well” she almost growled as she sauntered out of the room, making sure to swing her hips a little more than she normally would. 

Vastra leant back in her chair, having such heightened senses she could taste Jenny everywhere, she was in her study, on her clothes, all over her body, she was everywhere, and Vastra secretly loved it. There was something about the girl that softened the Silurian harshness, something that struck inside her, she couldn’t quite place it, but over the last few weeks their relationship had become something else indeed. 

At the thought of this, and perhaps the sight of Jenny in her new clothes Vastra’s heart pounded a little faster and she could feel her core body temperature had risen ever so slightly. She noticed in front of her, where Jenny’s hands had been there were small damp marks from where her palms had been resting, she had definitely been flirting with the lizard, but was it out of feelings for her, or did she simply enjoy toying with her? 

The next morning Jenny practically bounced down the stairs, she felt high on life, she was ready to face the day ahead, cleaning the Madame’s study, only problem was Vastra would most certainly be cooped up in there, so Jenny would have to clean around her. 

Jenny was secretly happy at this because it meant spending more time with her mistress, the two had grown ever closer since she had agreed to teach her to fight, she had caught Madame staring at her a few times, quickly averting her eyes before Jenny could notice, but she noticed. She loved to wind up the old lizard, brushing hands with her whenever she got the chance, making it seem like an accident, hearing Vastra’s breath catch in her throat made her insides flutter and her legs turn to jelly. 

Jenny knocked on the door to Vastra’s study, it was 11AM and she would most likely be in there working on a case by now, “enter” Vastra called and Jenny sidled in. 

“Just here to clean ma’am” Jenny motioned to the room with her arm, a bucket filled with cleaning utensils hooked on the other. “I’ll try not to disturb you” she smiled at Vastra who simply nodded in agreement. 

Jenny started with the bookshelves, taking books off, dusting them and placing them back, she knew Madame liked then in a certain order and she respected this. Vastra’s book collection was huge, she had hundreds of books adorning her walls; eight heavy oak shelves ran the length of the room. 

Jenny worked her way from top shelf down to the bottom, dusting and placing, dusting and placing, until she was satisfied she had got every last speck of dust from every book. Standing back to admire her work she smiled to herself, before turning to dust the rather large mirror that hung in the corner of the room. 

Beginning to swipe away at the dust that had collected on the reflective surface she noticed a reflection, a pair of icy blue eyes raking over her body from across the room, making her feel slightly flustered. 

“Oi, eyes front soldier” Jenny teased Vastra. 

“I think you’ll find my eyes are front Miss Flint” Vastra quipped back, narrowing her eyes at her maid. 

“Very well” Jenny turned and went back to cleaning, she could still see her mistresses reflection staring at her, watching her, never blinking, so she decided she would too play along. 

“Bit hot in this room isn’t it ma’am?” Jenny didn’t get an answer, she looked into the mirror and Vastra was still watching her, leaning back on her chair and looking at Jenny through hooded eyes. Jenny placed her cloth down, stood up straight and relieved herself of her waistcoat, unbuttoning it whilst simultaneously never breaking eye contact with Vastra. 

Her white shirt was all she had left, and she knew very well that Vastra would be able to see her every curve through the thin material, bit her bottom lip and simply carried on cleaning. 

“Jenny” Vastra spoke so quietly that Jenny barely heard her, “what are you doing to me?” she had lost her playful tone and suddenly sounded quite exasperated. 

This broke Jenny out of whatever game she thought they were playing, “nothing ma’am” she closed her eyes in disbelief at herself, suddenly feeling embarrassed at what she had been doing, this was not proper, I am her maid she reminded herself. 

Vastra didn’t say anything further; she carried on looking at Jenny as she went back to her cleaning, who looked a little sheepish and uneasy in the presence of her employer.


	5. Training Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well here we are again, I wanted to drag this story out a bit more but I'm impatient and decided to let things progress a bit quicker... Hope you guys enjoy! Again thanks for all the lovely comments and kudos!

Six weeks had passed, the two had gone back to their usual selves, Jenny cleaned, cooked and took care of the house while Vastra worked and hunted, they were quite content but there was an unspoken air between the two, they never acknowledged it, neither would speak about it, it simply wouldn’t go away. 

Jenny’s fingers had completely healed, as had Vastra’s arm, it was time for their training to begin, Jenny was beside herself with excitement, although slightly nervous at the same time. Vastra assured Jenny that she would be fine and that there would be nothing to worry about. 

They began at 6PM that night. Jenny watched the clock all day, 1PM, 3PM, 5PM finally 6PM, she had been waiting for this all day, bounding down the stairs in her combat uniform that would finally get some use, she waited in the hall for Vastra. Who appeared at the top of the stairs wearing a white shirt, embroidered with some sort of Aztec pattern, a pair of floaty wide leg trousers and some soft soled boots, Jenny was a little shocked at the sight of her mistress, she usually only wore dresses and gowns. 

“Shall we”, Vastra smiled at Jenny as they met at the foot of the stairs, taking a few steps down to the basement Jenny suddenly stopped.

“What’s the matter Jenny?” Vastra asked, a little concerned at Jenny’s apprehension. 

“N…Nothing I, are we training in the basement?” she suddenly felt a wash of fear pour over her, what was she letting herself in for? 

“It’s quite alright Jenny, what do you think I have down there, a dragon?” Vastra smirked, motioning for Jenny to follow her. 

Jenny glanced around the room, it was a pretty standard basement, concrete floor, concrete walls, a shelving unit with various swords leant against the far wall, that was it really. 

“So first lesson will be hand-to-hand combat, this will be the building block for your fighting lessons, once you have mastered that we will move on to weaponry, you have to understand Jenny this is very serious, you have to think and feel like a warrior when you enter this room, nevertheless it is a safe place, if I push you too far or you don’t want to continue I will understand”. Jenny nodded her understanding of what Vastra was telling her, she suddenly felt a bit like a fish out of water standing here before Vastra. 

“Right, first I will show you how to fight hand-to-hand, this takes a great deal of patience, strength and stamina Jenny, all of which will come to you in time, do not rush this” Vastra started holding and showing Jenny various falling and defence positions, all of which Jenny mirrored time and time again until she got them all correct, she was starting to ease up a bit and Vastra was indeed a good teacher, demonstrating and allowing Jenny to copy her, correcting her if she made mistakes and overall being very patient. 

Jenny quickly picked up the basic moves and Vastra insisted they move on to the next phase, grappling. Jenny gulped a little at this but Vastra was quick to reassure her, she held Jenny in various different choke holds and positions showing her where her weak points were and how best to overcome an attacker. 

“Now you know how to defend yourself you will defend yourself against me” Vastra said, and Jenny looked at her concerned 

“Against you? But you’re… you’re… I cant” Jenny stammered. 

“Nonsense Jenny, you need to start somewhere, it’s all well and good in theory but you need to practice, now if you want me to stop simply say stop and I will, okay?” 

“Okay” Jenny answered uneasily. Vastra grabbed her wrist, twirled in round and locked her arm behind her, Jenny could feel Vastra’s body pressed up against her back, her arm helplessly twisted behind her, Vastra’s spoke into Jenny’s ear.

“Now Jenny, what are you going to do?” remember what I taught you. Jenny thought back to her lesson, she flicked her leg behind her pulling Vastra’s feet from underneath her and sending her tumbling to the floor. 

“Very good Jenny!” Vastra clapped her hands together once.

“Now again” they continued with these lessons for weeks, 6PM everyday for two hours at a time, Jenny grew stronger and stronger and soon enough she looked forwards to her lessons.

Two months later, they moved onto weaponry, Vastra had explained to Jenny the different swords she would wield, how each one was different and how they were to be used and handled. Jenny took everything in, excited to start a new phase of her training, she was gifted with a smaller bladed sword with a blue trimming and pearl detailing on the handles, it was beautiful, she was almost afraid to use it in combat. 

Vastra wielded her sword expertly, showing Jenny all the correct ways to handle such weapons, Jenny picked it up quickly, they fought and grappled and wrestled and practised well into the winter months, Jenny was growing stronger and stronger all the time, she was ready to face anything, Vastra was convinced Jenny was ready to accompany her on her nightly missions. 

“Right Miss Flint” today you will fight me as we have done the past six months, but don’t think I’m going easy on you this time” she teased Jenny, who looked mock offended.

“Oh so you have been going easy on me? I told you not to do that” Jenny cursed the Silurian. 

Vastra was quick to answer “Now dear when one is practising it is only polite to go easy” they smiled at each other before drawing their swords, bowing and taking their stances. 

Vastra was first to lunge at Jenny, who blocked her swipe expertly before going in for an attack, the two fought it out until Jenny was red in the face, she could feel the beads of sweat forming on her forehead and Vastra was breathing heavily as they fought to the end.

Vastra was quick to notice Jenny’s tiring state as she swiped her sword from her hand, leaving Jenny without a weapon, she stood up straight, pointing her sword directly at Jenny’s stomach and walked slowly towards her maid. 

Jenny stepped back, one step, two, three, four steps, until she felt the wall hit her back, the cold concrete welcoming against her hot skin. She noticed Vastra had placed her feet one in front of the other, first mistake she thought, she flicked her ankle swung her leg and Vastra landed to the floor with a thud, Jenny kicked her sword from her hand, sending it clattering to the other side of the room.

“Come on old lizard what’s got into ya” she teased Vastra, who swung her own leg round landing Jenny on the floor with her. 

“Old lizard or not I’ll still win” Vastra quipped. She made a grab for Jenny, pulling her arms behind her, holding her tight, Jenny had no way out now, that was the fight over. 

“Okay, okay I give” Jenny finally surrendered but Vastra held Jenny’s arms still, she snaked her head round over Jenny’s shoulder, her tongue flickered out and she could taste Jenny in the air. 

“Do I scare you Jenny?” she purred into Jenny’s ear. 

“No” she replied. 

“Why?” Vastra asked, her head still lingering near Jenny’s ear. 

“Because I know you wouldn’t hurt me” Jenny was confident in this, but she did wonder why Vastra was asking these questions. She could feel the Silurian’s cold skin pressed against her, her breath in her ear, the occasional flick of her tongue in the corner of her eye, it was all so wonderfully delicious having Vastra that close to her, holding her, she felt the jolts of electricity running through her veins, her body temperature rose, she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks, her breath became shallow as Vastra hissed into her ear. 

“You know what I could do to you, you know what I’m capable of, I could kill you and you wouldn’t even know it, but yet you allow yourself to live alongside me, why?” Vastra asked.

Jenny was genuinely confused now, and becoming a little aroused at her mistress’ close proximity, it clouded her mind and she tried to think of some response. She felt Vastra loosen her grip and she turned in her arms, looking into her eyes she asked.

“Why are you doing this?” “Are you trying to intimidate me?” Jenny asked. 

Vastra looked down at Jenny, her arms were still placed lightly around her waist. 

“It was never my intention to intimidate you Miss Flint” she hastily standing up and headed back up into the main house. 

Jenny sat on the floor, suddenly missing the contact with her mistress, this was the kind of behaviour that got her thrown out of her home, but she was sure the Silurian was returning her feelings, teasing her just as much as she did. She pulled herself to her feet and headed for the bathroom. 

Letting the hot water rise up around her body was a welcome feeling, her muscled ached from all the exercise they had done that day and the hot water soothed her sore body. She lay back and thought about the day, what was that all about before, Vastra asking if she was scared of her? What a stupid question, of course she wasn’t scared of her; she pushed the thought to the back of her mind and let her eyes slip closed, Vastra never left her mind, she was mostly what occupied Jenny’s thoughts these days, she thought about how Vastra’s body felt pressed against her own, how her hands felt when they brushed hers, the butterflies started in her stomach again and she could feel herself growing warmer, too warm to be sat in the bath, she thought, pulling herself out and grabbing a towel to dry off. She padded back to her room, early night tonight she decided, as she climbed under the thick winter duvet. 

The cold nights were starting to take their toll on Vastra, being cold blooded she was not build for the London winter climate, despite the fires and heating systems in her home she still suffered dreadfully in the colder months of the year. Slipping under her covers, she welcomed the warmth of her bedroom and curled herself up for a good nights sleep. 

She was awoken around 1PM by a niggling in her mind, she tried to listen to the noise, trying to work out the sound, it got louder and clearer she realised what it was, it was someone calling to her, her breath caught in her throat when she realised who was calling to her, Jenny, she thought to herself. She could hear her name being repeated over and over “Vastra” – Jenny never called her by her name and it excited her hearing it roll off her maids tongue for the first time, she loved how she said her name. 

Vastra followed the sound of Jenny in her dream, she was searching for her, but she was surrounded by darkness and all she could do was follow her voice, she ran and ran searching for Jenny, until she saw a speck of light in the distance, she started towards it, walking that turned into running, she opened the room to her door and there was Jenny, she had found her. Fear suddenly gripped hold of her as she saw her Jenny lying there, in her bed, she was wailing, no moaning, in pain? Vastra went to Jenny’s bedside and placed her hand to Jenny’s forehead, it burnt to touch, she was ill. 

My god Jenny, Vastra didn’t know what to do, she had heard of human fevers before but she did not know how to treat someone with them, they were no doubt different to Silurian fevers, which rarely happened. 

“Vastra” again Jenny moaned her name, Vastra pulled back Jenny’s covers, quickly realising she certainly should not have, Jenny was naked, and her hands clung to the bed sheets at her sides, she moaned again “Vastra” – the lizard felt heat rising in her cheeks as she realised what was happening. Jenny was not moaning in pain, nor did she have a fever, she was not calling for Vastra to help… She was dreaming… about her. 

Vastra stepped back; back, back until her head and back hit the far wall of Jenny’s room, she did not know what to do, run? Wake Jenny? Pretend it never happened? She was at a loss for what the sensible thing to do would be. Jenny clearly did not know of their psychic link, which had become stronger since Jenny’s training had started, and Vastra wasn’t at all aware of just how strong the connection was, until now, she had only heard Jenny’s thoughts a few times, the first being when she was repairing Jenny’s broken fingers. 

She glanced back up at Jenny from across the room, her heart and head fighting with each other over whether to run or stay, she couldn’t watch this, couldn’t watch her maid dream about her in such a way, but yet she couldn’t bare to tear herself away. 

She watched as a figure rose from the covers above Jenny, and she knew exactly what was about to happen, a green scaled hand made it’s way up over Jenny’s stomach soothing over her pale skin before cupping one of her breasts. Jenny gasped at the touch, Vastra could see her chest heaving, her eyes were closed and her hands grabbing fistfuls of bed sheets. 

She watched as she saw herself climb on top of the maid, tongue flicking out, tickling the skin over Jenny’s neck and collarbone, Jenny sighed as it did so, Vastra had never seen her look so… beautiful. Jenny’s hands came up to cup Vastra’s cheeks, pulling her face closer and bringing their lips together, their kiss grew more and more passionate as their tongues tangled with each other in a battle for power, their hands grasping desperately at one another’s bodies. 

Vastra still stood eyes wide staring from the corner of the room, her back braced against the wall, her palms were sweating, her stomach was doing flips and she could feel the heat rising within her, she could feel a tingling sensation coursing through her veins, her breathing became shallow as she watched Jenny writhe and moan beneath her own touch. 

“Vastra” she head Jenny moan again, snapping Vastra back to reality. Forcing herself away she quietly stepped across the room, quietly crept out the doorway, closed the door and made her way back to her own room, opening her eyes and closing the psychic connection as she did so. 

Sitting bolt upright in bed she glanced around her room, a pool of moisture had gathered between her thighs and she struggled to shake the image of Jenny from her mind. This was all too much, she slumped her head back onto her pillow is exasperation and closed her eyes. 

There still though, all she saw was Jenny, she was in every corner of her mind, no matter how hard she tried to shake her out of it, she couldn’t. Vastra knew something had to be done, how could she carry on employing Jenny after witnessing what was happening in Jenny’s head, despite all this she couldn’t help but feel a little flattered, there was no denying she liked the younger woman, but it was impossible – she was her employer after all. She needed to speak to Jenny.


	6. The Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this was extremely painful for me to write, but I felt the story needed a twist...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for your lovely comments (especially YOLO, your comments keep me writing), I've been awful at uploading recently so I am uploading two chapters this weekend as a special treat! As usual please comment / give me feedback so I can improve! 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy! <3

“Morning” Jenny called as she bounced off the last step; Vastra was up unusually early, perhaps due to a sleepless night after her… um, discovery. 

“Morning” Vastra called back, looking at Jenny expectantly, she wondered if Jenny knew anything of what happened last night, “you alrigh’?” Jenny said, looking at Vastra with a confused expression on her face.

“Yeah completely fine thank you Jenny, I trust you slept well?” she asked, secretly relishing in knowing what Jenny had on her mind the night before. 

“Yeah best nights sleep in a long time actually” Jenny beamed back at her; it wasn’t like her mistress to be so talkative in the mornings. 

Vastra couldn’t help the smile that spread across her lips “yeah I’ll bet” she mused to herself, not meaning to say it out loud. 

“What was that?” Jenny asked, frowning slightly now. 

“Oh nothing” Vastra was quick to respond; afraid she had said too much.

“No, you just said yeah I’ll bet…meaning what exactly?” Jenny pulled out a chair from the breakfast table sitting opposite her Madame. Vastra decided she liked teasing Jenny, she damned herself for enjoying it but she still couldn’t resist the thrill of it all. Jenny seemed to dismiss the question, shaking her head as she stood and poured herself a cup of tea.

“I’m going out tonight,” she announced, looking to Vastra for a response, Vastra quickly realised she had been staring at the maid for far too long.

Snapping out of her revere “I…uh… yes, very good, where will you be going?” she managed to regain some composure, god what is this girl doing to me she thought to herself. 

“Just out with a friend” Jenny placed her tea down and took her seat again, looking up to see Madame Vastra’s reaction, “a boy” she added, still looking expectantly to Vastra, apparently she wasn’t getting a reaction as the lizard just stared into her newspaper, nodding her head ever so slightly. She sighed and went back to sipping her tea, the silence became awkward as she wondered what was going through her employers mind, she was startled as Vastra abruptly stood and stormed off upstairs without saying a word. 

Jenny smirked to herself, Vastra was jealous and Jenny knew it. She had an inkling that her Madame had been feeling the same way she had for a while now, and she had decided it was time to act on this, if it meant making the lizard jealous to get some kind of reaction out of her, then that’s what she would do, she knew she was playing with fire toying with her employer, but she was desperate to get some show of emotion from the lizard, it had been months since their last…encounter in Vastra’s study and Jenny was finding it hard to keep the Silurian off her mind. 

The two didn’t see much of each other throughout the day, Jenny went about cleaning the house and readying herself for her night out, and Vastra poured over her work in her study, never even ringing to request tea or food. Jenny knew the lizard was sulking about her going out, and she had her exactly where she wanted her. 

Later that evening Jenny waltzed down the stairs and into the living room to stand in front of Vastra, she wore a floor length dress which hugged her shapely form in all the right places, her corset was forcing her bosom upwards, leaving little to the imagination and her hair was curled and partly pinned up. 

Vastra tried to hide the intake of breath she took as she looked up at Jenny; she looked absolutely radiant she thought to herself as she took in the sight before her. 

Jenny had saw the lizards intake of breath as she first cast eyes on her, it sent sparks shooting through her body, she loved seeing Vastra on edge and awkward, it was incredibly endearing to Jenny to see her (usually straight talking slightly uptight) employer stutter over her words at the sight of her all dressed up. 

“I, uh, Jenny… You…” Vastra silently cursed herself at her awkwardness, she took in a deep breath, cleared her throat and steadied herself “you look nice” was all she came out with, before turning back to her book. 

Jenny sighed; it was going to take more than an evocative outfit to get the lizard to react, apparently. 

“Don’t wait up” she called as she grabbed her coat and slung it over her shoulders.

“I could be late back” – she looked back to Vastra who was sat staring into the pages of her book, not even lifting an eyebrow as Jenny bounded out the front door, slamming it behind her. Vastra looked up at the sound of the heavy wood crashing back into it’s frame, she felt sick at the thought of Jenny with a man, of another seeing her dressed like that, touching Jenny and holding her. 

She was so confused, Jenny had been dreaming about the two of them, and there was no denying there was a spark between them, Vastra knew this, she also knew it to be impossible that they could be together, impropriety and all that. So why was she so tense around the notion of Jenny meeting someone else, she did say friend after all, they could just be old school friends or someone she had met down at the market. 

But then why had Jenny gone to such extents to dress how she did, she obviously wanted something more from the boy, a relationship perhaps? Was Jenny lonely? Is that why she was dreaming of Vastra, she had been the only real company the girl had in the house, maybe she was forcing her feelings onto Vastra simply because she was the only one there? 

Vastra’s heart sank a little at the thought; she wanted Jenny, which was clear by the raging jealousy she had shown this evening. She threw her book onto the side table, dragged a blanket over herself, curled her legs up to her chest and hugged them to her, laying her head onto her knee and stared into the roaring fire. 

She sat like this until her legs became stiff and her back ached from the lack of support, stretching out she glanced up at the clock 12:06AM, when did it get so late? Jenny was still out, and had been for over five hours now – she’s gone home with the boy, Vastra thought to herself, closing her eyes in disgust at the thought of someone else having Jenny, she cursed herself for being for blasé around their relationship, wishing she had just said something to Jenny. 

“Don’t go,” she whispered to herself, “I don’t want anyone else to have you”. She stood up, cursing how soft she had become when the little ape was involved; she was a Silurian, not a teenage ape in love. 

She gasped love, she shocked herself at her own use of the word, she hadn’t even thought of the notion that she could… love Jenny, she stared wide eyed, fiddling with the blanket that she was folding (rather haphazardly) over the back of the sofa. 

*Oh god I love her* Vastra thought to herself, she slumped to the floor, sitting helplessly limp in front of the fire, butterflies were churning in her stomach, her heart was pounding in her ears as she closed her eyes and felt the fires warm embrace welcome against her cold back. Her mind filled with images of Jenny, memories of their first meeting, of how far the young ape had come, how beautiful she looked tonight oh god Vastra. She cursed herself silently, how could she have been so blind. 

She looked back to the clock 1:04AM, her heart sank again as the realisation hit her that Jenny wasn’t coming home tonight, she had lost interest in the old lizard and found someone new to love. Who could blame her, Jenny was the most beautiful being Vastra had ever laid eyes upon, why would she be interested in an old lizard, but then again she had seen Jenny’s dream about her. Oh god why does that girl confound me so much. 

Vastra pulled herself up from the mat, cursing herself for being so stupid to let someone get so close to her, giving someone the power to hurt her so badly. Even if that person was Jenny, Jenny who she loved so dearly, who had cared for her when she had been ill and nursed her through multiple injuries, Jenny who she had trained into a warrior, her companion, her best friend. 

Vastra turned out the last of the lights, closed the door to the living room and made her way back to her bedroom, she walked over to her window and perched herself on the cushions she had laid out on the windowsill, she thought back to Jenny and how she insisted they had somewhere to sit in this huge bay window, Vastra thought it ridiculous that they would need to sit in a window and look out at the street below, but over time she grew to love watching from the windowsill, seeing the horses pull carts along, and people going about their daily chores, she loved watching the hustle and bustle of London from the safety of her own home. 

She sat and sat and sat, the grandfather clock chimed 3AM and she cursed herself for staying up so late worrying over the girl, Jenny is not coming home she told herself, she’s gone home with someone else, and that’s fine, Jenny is entitled to choose who she wants to be with. 

Vastra tried to convince herself that she was okay with Jenny going home with some stranger, but she knew deep down that she could never be okay with that. She could never be okay with Jenny being with someone else, jealousy hit her hard in the chest and the pain was unbearable. 

Deciding it was finally time for some sleep, she took one last longing look out the window and then she saw her, she saw Jenny walking back down the street, her arm linked through the arm of another figure. Vastra tried to see who it was bringing Jenny home, she couldn’t make it out as they were so far away, and the dimly lit street didn’t help, the two figures grew in size as they got closer and closer before stopping outside the house.

Vastra was not prepared for what she was about to witness, a tall slender man had his arm slinked around Jenny’s waist, supporting her as they came to a halt outside number 13, Jenny turned to the man and Vastra watched as they had a brief conversation with each other, she couldn’t make out what they were saying but then without warning she felt her chest being ripped open and her heart torn from her cold blooded body, her arms and legs went limp and all she could do was watch from her window as Jenny kissed the man who had walked her home. 

Vastra felt every emotion she had ever known bubble up inside of her, anger, jealousy, love, guilt, rage, sadness - she didn’t know how to react, what to do, how she felt, what am I doing?

She wept. For the first time since the death of her sisters, she wept, falling to the floor and pulling her clothing tightly around her she wailed into the silence of her room, her heart ached at the loss of possibly the only woman she could ever truly love. She could have been sure Jenny wanted her the same way she wanted Jenny, but it was apparent that Jenny wanted something else entirely, she wanted a man, probably a family, Vastra thought about the human customs she had learnt in her time on earth. Jenny would marry a man, have children and spend her life devoted to her husband, caring for their children, there was no place for Vastra in Jenny’s life. How could I have been so foolish? Of course Jenny wouldn’t want an old lizard.

She stayed like that for a while, weeping, cradling herself on the bedroom floor, before straightening her back, regaining some composure and dragging herself to her desk. She couldn’t sleep now, not with everything that had happened, she needed a distraction, and for Vastra, work was her best distraction. Luckily Scotland Yard had recently set her a rather tasking project of finding and capturing Jack the Ripper. 

She heard the front door creak open, heard Jenny patter along the corridor, apparently crash into a few things on her way to the stairs and make her way up to her bedroom. Vastra listened to Jenny’s footsteps, she was stumbling all over the place, drunk she thought to herself, huffing - that man had gotten Jenny drunk. 

She heard the maid stumble along the corridor, clattering along the way; she heard her fall through her bedroom door and stumble into the foot of her bed. Mumbling and cursing under her breath as she haphazardly navigated her way to bed. 

Anger bubbled up inside Vastra; she couldn’t believe the nerve of that ape that had gotten Jenny drunk. She calmed herself down enough to go and check on Jenny. She walked the short distance across the corridor to find Jenny laying on her bed, arms and legs sprawled out over the side of the mattress, her head lolling to one side. 

“You’re drunk” Vastra announced, scaring Jenny slightly with the abruptness of her voice. 

Jenny’s eyes shot open, “na not drunk, just tired” she giggled as she tried to push herself up off the bed to stand, she swayed as she walked towards Vastra, but her eyes, they never wavered, they were black as Vastra had ever seen them, and they looked right into her own soft blue eyes. 

Jenny swaggered over to Vastra, managing to balance herself on a chair and the bed as she did so, stopping not two inches from her face she stood and looked into the eyes of her employer, a wicked smile played on her lips. 

“I told you not to wait up,” she barely whispered. 

“What makes you think I was waiting up Jenny, I have been working” Vastra spoke clearly and sternly, Jenny had made her feelings quite clear and she would not show weakness in this relationship. 

“Na, you never work this late” “I reckon” Jenny stopped as she swayed to one side nearly toppling over before Vastra caught her by the waist and pulled her back upright, guiding her to a sitting position at the foot of the bed.

“You reckon what?” Vastra scoffed, Jenny was clearly in no state to be having a conversation. 

Jenny looked up at the lizard, her piercing blue eyes and emerald scales gleamed in the dim light of the room; she looked so beautiful, it took her off guard slightly, or that could have been the alcohol in her system. 

“I…I” Jenny struggled to find the words to say, she knew what she wanted, but couldn’t work out how to speak to Vastra, how to tell her. 

“What do you want Jenny?” Vastra noted Jenny’s inability to speak in proper English and decided to take it upon herself to begin the conversation they were apparently having now. 

“You know what I want” Jenny replied, looking everywhere but at Vastra. “I think it’s your turn to tell me what you want”, she added, summoning up some courage she stood directly in front of Vastra, staring straight into her eyes. 

Vastra stammered, she could feel the warmth radiating off Jenny’s body, she could smell the alcohol on her breath, she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks, her hands shook and her knees threatened to buckle beneath her at the closeness of Jenny’s body to her own. 

“I…I…we…you kissed that boy”. She cursed herself for speaking before she thought it through, but watching Jenny kiss that man, it sickened her, she couldn’t get the image out of her head, and now, with Jenny in such close proximity, her mind went foggy and she couldn’t think straight. 

“You were watching me?” Jenny’s eyes got that wicked glimmer in them again, they went dark and she took a step closer to her mistress. Vastra took a step back towards the door, never breaking eye contact with Jenny. 

“I… uh” she searched for some excuse for seeing the two of them kiss outside the house, “I was just looking outside when I saw you” she knew her excuse was feeble and Jenny wouldn’t believe her. She took another step back; Jenny mirrored this with another step towards her.

“You were watching me,” Jenny repeated, “why?” she took another step towards Vastra who suddenly felt like a deer in the headlights, her mind was reeling with emotions and she didn’t know what to do about it.

“I…I” feeling defeated, she turned and stormed back to her own room, slamming the door behind her and burying her head in her hands at how ridiculous she was being. 

Jenny’s shoulders sagged as she admitted her defeat, this was not the time to be having this conversation, the alcohol she had consumed was still having an effect on her and Vastra was clearly in no mood to be reckoned with. She sighed, and let herself slump onto her bed, closing her eyes and falling asleep in her clothes. 

Vastra leant against the heavy post of her bed, letting her forehead rest against the dark wood as she closed her eyes and sighed, her heart ached for Jenny, she wanted her so badly but it was not to be, so many emotions bubbled up inside her, anger, lust, want, love, it was exhausting and every time she closed her eyes all she saw was Jenny, she was infectious. 

Sighing at the exhaustion she felt she climbed into bed and suffered a restless night of tossing and turning, her mind whirling with images of Jenny.


	7. Skin and Scales

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I guess this is the chapter you've all been waiting for, I hope it lives up to expectations! Thank you all again for your lovely comments, I hope you enjoy the chapter! <3

The next day Jenny busied herself in the kitchen, washing pots and pans whilst nursing a terrible hangover, she groaned in pain as her head throbbed and her stomach growled in hunger. Fixing up a plate of bread and a few chunks of cheese she tried to force down some food, the queasiness in her stomach slowly subsiding as she ate. 

She turned as she heard Vastra stomping down the stairs, “morning” she greeted her mistress with a half smile, trying to look a little more alive than she certainly felt. 

“Morning” Vastra answered abruptly before turning and stalking down the stairs to the basement, apparently she was not in a talking mood today.

Jenny furrowed her brows at this, why was Vastra being so snarky with her? Had she done something last night that had upset her? She tried to think back to the night before; all she remembered was being walked home and then nothing, as far as she was aware she didn’t even see the Madame on her return to the house, presumably it was late so she would be asleep. 

She forced it to the back of her mind and went about preparing some lunch for Vastra, speaking to her or not she had to eat she surmised. Grabbing the usual pots and pans she went about heating up the lizards meat and blood before depositing them on the dining room table and calling down the cellar “Dinner’s on the table” before turning back to the kitchen to finish cleaning. 

Ten then twenty minutes passed and Vastra still hadn’t come up from the basement, what on earth could she be doing down there? Jenny thought to herself. Sighing and clambering down the stairs she creaked open the door only to find Vastra circling the room, sword in hand, she looked a little like a caged animal tutting and pacing about the room. “I said dinner’s on the table” Jenny announced, looking slightly perplexed at her mistress’ agitated state, “everything okay ma’am?” she was concerned now. 

“I’m fine, I’m not hungry” Vastra’s tone was clipped and stern, something was not right. 

“You need to eat ma’am” Jenny softly spoke. 

“I do not need you to tell me what I need ape” Vastra barked back as she turned to face Jenny, blue eyes pierced through her own.

Jenny was a little taken aback, Vastra had long stopped referring to her as an ape, and she never spoke to Jenny in that tone, at least not any more. She turned and hastily stormed up the stairs, her eyes had filled with tears threatening to fall, what had she done to upset the lizard so badly? She cursed herself for getting so drunk that she couldn’t remember what had happened between the two of them. 

Later that day 

The clock chimed 6PM and she had not seen Vastra since the incident in the basement, she heard the stairs creak behind her as Vastra wandered up to her bedroom, she hadn’t eaten all day and Jenny was becoming increasingly worried. She hated fighting with her mistress, when all she could think about was how badly she wanted her, she leant against the worktop as she closed her eyes… Suddenly she felt cold hands at her waist, a long tongue forked out at her neck as she rolled her head to one side to allow more access, she felt the softness of breasts against her back, and her body jerked as she felt a welcomed rush of heat course through her body at the touch of the other woman behind her and 'oh god' she moaned, before opening her eyes and realising that she was quite alone, god these daydreams were really becoming torturous. 

“Right that’s it” she forced herself to walk up the stairs and straight to Vastra’s room, she knocked. 

No answer.

She knocked again, a little louder this time. 

“Go away” came the answer. 

“Ma’am, please, what is wrong?” Jenny pleaded with the lizard woman. 

“I told you ape, nothing is wrong” Vastra almost hissed back through the closed door. 

Right that’s it Jenny thought to herself, she was not going to stand here and be spoken to like that. She bounded into Vastra’s room; swinging open the door with such force it dented the wall behind.

“Jenny” Vastra exclaimed, “get out of my room” she stared straight at her maid, a little taken aback at her brash entrance. 

“No” Jenny replied, “Not until you tell me why you’ve been in such a mood with me all day”. She stood her ground, she never spoke to her mistress like this but damn it if she was going to let her call her an ape and treat her this way. 

Vastra looked at Jenny, her eyes were dark and unmoving, and she seemed to think for a while before speaking. “Maybe you should ask yourself why you’re wasting your time on me Jenny”.

“What?” Jenny questioned, tilting her head a little at her mistress. 

“You clearly prefer the attention of a male ape so why don’t you go and stay with him instead of here” Vastra was looking at Jenny but wouldn’t meet her eyes. 

“I… uh… ma’am what are you talking about?” 

“Don’t toy with me Jenny, I saw you kiss him, you got all dressed up and you let that ape put his hands all over you” Vastra looked around the room, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in her own home. 

Suddenly it hit Jenny, everything that happened the night before came back to her, she had kissed a boy on their front step in a stupid attempt to make Vastra jealous, god what had she been thinking, but quickly realising that her perhaps ridiculous plan had worked after all. She looked to Vastra who was huffing about the room, pretending to examine a pile of books that were laid on her desk. “Oh” was all Jenny said, Vastra heard this and turned her head so sharply it sent a little jolt of fear down Jenny’s spine. 

*Oh* Jenny thought to herself, smirking a little, Vastra is jealous after all. She took a few steps towards her mistress, kicking the door with her foot and letting it swing shut behind her. “Are you jealous?” she quipped, a playful smile tugging at her lips. 

“Don’t be ridiculous Jenny, I am your employer not your lover” Vastra was still refusing to make eye contact with the maid. 

“Then why you were watching me kiss him? And why did you stay up so late in the first place? Come on these are easy questions,” Jenny asked, an eyebrow raised and a hand on her hip.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you Jenny, I think you forget that I am your employer and you my maid and you will do well to remember your place in this house” Vastra was seething now, Jenny was brazen, her eyes flashed a darker shade of blue and her scales rippled with frustration. 

“Maybe you should put me in my place then” Jenny answered back, she knew she was well and truly playing with fire now, Vastra could easily strike her down, but she wanted this, she wanted Vastra angry, she wanted her to lose her temper, wanted to see the Silurian lose control. 

“You need to get out of here” Vastra answered back. 

“Why? What are you gon’na do if I don’t?” Jenny knew she was playing a dangerous game here. 

“Jenny stop taunting me, you know what I could do to you” Vastra almost growled. 

Jenny could see the frustration building up in Vastra, and it was making the heat rise up within her, she could feel her stomach fluttering and her fingertips tingling with the blood rushing through her body, her heart pounded faster and her cheeks grew hotter and hotter as she watched her mistress grow more and more agitated at her sarcastic remarks. 

“Oh you lizards are so hot when you’re angry” she smirked, her chest was heaving and her body was growing warmer by the second. 

She knew she had done it now as Vastra stalked over to her, nearly knocking her over as she pushed her back against the wall in anger. Vastra curled her hands around Jenny’s forearms as she pinned her to the wall, “and you apes are intolerable when you want something” Vastra snarled into her face, she felt Jenny’s warmth beneath her, she was no match for the Silurian who held her firm to the wall. 

Jenny could feel Vastra’s cool scales against the skin on her arms, the closeness of Vastra’s face to her own stirred up more heat inside her, she felt she was going to explode from the intensity of it all, Vastra’s body pressed against her own, her arms pinned above her head, the cool of the wall against her back, the heat of Vastra’s breath against her face, she turned her face to one side, “oh god Vastra” she moaned, not meaning it to come out loud. 

Vastra let her go suddenly, stepping backwards and putting some space between the two women, she looked at Jenny who still leant against the wall, her breathing shallow and her chest heaving, she had seen her like this before, in her dream, she suddenly remembered the night of their psychic connection, Jenny moaning Vastra’s name, the heat in her cheeks returned the same as they had that night, seeing herself make love to her maid, she cursed herself for letting her emotions get the better of her yet again as she shook her head and looked back at her maid, who just stared at her wide eyed, waiting for her to say something. 

“I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that” Vastra spoke finally, she walked over to her desk and started to absentmindedly sort papers and pens that she had left there from her earlier work. 

“Who was he?” she asked, not looking up, “the boy, did you… do you want to court him?” she turned her back to Jenny and closed her eyes waiting for the response; apparently she had found her voice again. 

“Joseph” came Jenny’s reply, and Vastra could hear her stepping closer, “he was an old school friend”.

Vastra opened her eyes and continued pretending to sort through papers. “a…and did you have a good night with him…with Joseph” the name felt like poison running off her tongue and her voice wavered slightly, but she needed to know. 

“Does it bother you that I kissed him?” Jenny asked, stepping closer again to her mistress’ turned back. 

“No, why would it?” Vastra lied, shuffling papers and wiping invisible dust from her desk. 

“You just seem… different…bothered, you’ve been in a mood all day” Jenny surmised. 

Vastra could feel her cheeks burning, she was struggling to find excuses to explain herself, and she knew Jenny didn’t believe any of them. She scoffed, an attempt to dismiss her feelings.

She turned to face Jenny “Why would I be bothered Jenny, it’s your life, you can choose who you want to spend it with, I have no control over you” she finally looked directly into the eyes of her maid who had somehow managed to silently cross the room in the time her back had been turned, they now stood a couple of feet apart. 

“Do you want me to be bothered?” Vastra asked, cocking her head to one side as she leant back against her desk and looked at her maid expectantly. 

Jenny suddenly felt embarrassed, she stared at her feet, not trusting herself to look up “yes” she managed to choke out, she closed her eyes for a second and took a breath before looking up at Vastra, “I want you to be bothered”.

Vastra didn’t say anything; she let what her maid had just said sink in before she spoke. Pushing herself up from where she was perched on the edge of her desk she saw she had the upper hand, something that gave her back the confidence she needed to continue this conversation with Jenny. 

She walked slowly, circling Jenny like a predator as the maid stood and stared at the ground, her hands twisting the front of her apron. 

“Why do you want me to be bothered?” Vastra asked coyly as she continued circling, making Jenny dizzy with desire. Her maid didn’t answer; she stared at the ground and picked at invisible loose threads on front of her dress.

“Jenny, why do you want me to be bothered?” Vastra half asked half teased the maid. 

“Ma’am” Jenny finally spoke, it was barely audible as she looked to Vastra with pleading eyes, *don’t make me say it*, she silently begged. 

“Why?” Vastra surprised Jenny as she placed her hands on Jenny’s waist *how did she get so close?* she felt the cool body press against her back “tell me” she hissed in Jenny’s ear, “were you trying to make me jealous?” she was relishing having Jenny exactly where she wanted her. 

“Ma’am, please” Jenny begged, *stop these games already*.

“I want to hear you say it” Vastra hissed again, her tongue forking out of it’s own accord. 

“Yes…I wanted to make you jealous” Jenny closed her eyes, bracing herself for whatever her mistress would say back to her ludicrous idea of making her jealous. 

“Exactly why would you want to make me jealous?” Vastra asked, her breath was hot against Jenny’s ear and it sent shivers down the maids’ spine directly into her stomach.   
Jenny closed her eyes, trying to focus on anything but the desire that was building up inside her, turning her legs to jelly and clouding her mind “because I want you” she blurted out, not meaning it to sound so blunt, she sighed “I want you okay, I can’t stop thinking about you, about how I feel when you touch me, how badly I want you to kiss me, make love to me, make me yours” Jenny’s cheeks grew hot from her admission, she hadn’t meant for it to come out like this. She cursed herself for being so open, *just shut up already* she said in her head, but the words were out there now. 

Vastra smirked, she had gotten the confession she wanted and any doubt in her mind was cleared, Jenny wanted her. 

“Now that wasn’t so hard was it” Vastra teased as she grabbed Jenny by the waist, spun her round and walked her back towards her desk, she lifted her up onto the solid wood surface and leant towards her, a hand on either side of Jenny’s thighs. 

Jenny looked up at her employer in disbelief, *is this really happening* she thought to herself.

“Yes” Vastra replied, and Jenny tensed. 

“Wait, how did…you heard that?” she asked. 

“We’ve had quite a strong psychic connection for quite some time now” Vastra stated, before adding “I believe it started a few months back and it has grown stronger ever since” Vastra replied, her eyes searching Jenny’s for some sign of how she was feeling. 

“You can read my mind?” Jenny asked, suddenly alarmed at the things Vastra could have seen her thinking about. 

“Not always, only when you open your mind to me, like in your dream for instance” the lizard purred into Jenny’s ear sending vibrations through her body. Jenny stopped for a minute, considering what Vastra had just told her, when she realised what her employer was hinting at, she looked at her with a mixture of embarrassment and disbelief on her face, and felt herself redden at the realisation. 

“Oh there’s no need to blush, I know you’re not as delicate as you make out,” Vastra teased as she ran her tongue slowly the line from Jenny’s collarbone to the crook of her jawline. Jenny let her head roll to one side as she welcomed the strong tongue stroking her skin *god it feels so good to be touched by you.*

“I’m glad you think so” Vastra half smirked into Jenny’s ear, Jenny blushed again, forgetting their psychic connection. 

Jenny pulled her head back straight, taking Vastra’s face in her shaking hands she brought their lips together for the first time, and it felt so good to have Vastra’s cool lips sliding against her own, moving in rhythm to each other, their tongues brushed lightly once, and then more urgently, fighting for power, her hands took hold of Vastra’s waist as she felt overcome with desire for the woman in front of her.

She grabbed fistfuls of clothing, desperate to feel her lovers scales against her own skin, she tugged and pulled and unbuttoned until finally she felt Vastra’s last piece of clothing give way and fall to the floor behind them, looking down she saw Vastra’s scales ran the length of her body obviously she thought to herself. Different shades of green adorned her abdomen and upper thighs, her breasts were perfectly rounded and without nipples, her upper arms were strong and muscular, as was the rest of her toned body, Vastra watched Jenny take in her appearance, waiting for some kind of signal to continue, but Jenny simply sat and stared at the lizard woman. 

“Do you want to stop?” Vastra asked, suddenly alarmed that Jenny had never seen her like this before. 

“No” came the reply, as Jenny tentatively stroked a fingertip down Vastra’s abdomen, looking to her face for some kind of reaction, she saw Vastra’s eyes close for a second before looking back down at her maid, her eyes had grown a dark shade of deep blue, and she saw a look in the lizard that she had never seen before, what was that? Embarrassment? Unease?

“Jenny” Vastra spoke softly, “I’m afraid I don’t know how to make love to a human”, she looked at the ground, at her discarded clothing, suddenly feeling like an embarrassed schoolgirl. 

Jenny spoke even softer “then make love to me like a Silurian”. 

Vastra’s head snapped up, and Jenny saw her eyes had turned nearly black, she had no idea what she had just awoken but it both excited and frightened her, she wanted Vastra, she needed her desperately. 

*Make love to me like a Silurian* she said in her head, knowing Vastra would hear it, and that was that, Vastra grabbed hold of Jenny’s dress and tore it from her body as easy as she would rip flesh from bone for her evening meal. The lizard took hold of Jenny and led her over to her bed, sitting down and placing Jenny on top of her, straddling her thighs. 

She grabbed hold of both her hands and let her fingers weave through Jenny’s pushing her back into the mattress and crashing their lips together once again. Their naked forms melted together on the bed, Jenny writhed at Vastra’s touch, her hips grinding into Vastra’s, her legs either side of the lizards’ waist. Vastra ran her tongue the length of Jenny’s body, licking at her breasts and tracing a trail down past her belly button and up her inner thighs; Jenny’s legs trembled at the sensation, "please" Jenny cried out…"I need you". And who was Vastra to deny her maid anything she wanted.


End file.
